5 Common Hospital Mistakes

By
Goodman Acker P.C.
|October 29, 2018

When you visit the hospital, you expect proper care and treatment, not
major medical mistakes that could cost you your life. Unfortunately,
hospital mistakes happen on a regular basis and can result in serious illnesses, wounds,
or even death. Hospitals are usually extremely busy environments, and
despite medical regulations and standard protocol, mistakes do happen.
Whether the nurse mixes up your medical charts or the doctor makes an
incorrect diagnosis, you could find yourself dealing with a complex issue
because of the errors or negligence of the hospital.

In order to protect yourself from hospital mistreatment, or to discover
whether you have a
medical malpractice case, make sure you know what types of mistakes occur in hospitals.

Some of the most common types of hospital mistakes include:

1. Improper Diagnosis

If a doctor makes an incorrect diagnosis because he or she failed to recognize
all of a patient’s symptoms, the patient could be treated for the
wrong ailment. While the patient receives treatment for the incorrect
injury or illness, it could result in a delay in the proper treatment,
which could be damaging and extremely dangerous. Also, if a doctor delays
diagnosis or fails to make a diagnosis, it could cause an unsafe delay
in treatment.

2. Medication Errors

Prescribing and administering drugs is a hefty responsibility, and if a
doctor, nurse, pharmacist, or other medical professional makes an error,
the results could be extremely harmful. Doctors might fail to notice signs
of addiction and could overprescribe opioids, leading patients down a
dangerous path to addiction. Or, pharmacists might provide patients with
the wrong medication, nurses could administer incorrect dosages, and so on.

3. Surgical Mistakes

Although surgical mistakes are somewhat rare, they can be extremely damaging
when they occur. Doctors aren’t expected to be perfect, but they
are expected to perform at least as well as another, equally qualified,
doctor would in their shoes. A negligent or carless doctor might harm
a nearby organ by accident, leave an instrument in the body after surgery,
or miss crucial steps in an operation. Alternatively, the hospital may
make a mistake, causing someone to undergo the wrong operation or a surgery
on the wrong area of the body. In some cases, the mistake might have to
do with improperly cleaned surgical tools.

4. Failure to Respond

In emergency situations, patients often require quick, immediate medical
care in order to survive. If a doctor fails to administer care in a timely
manner, or if they respond incorrectly, the patient could suffer more
harm than necessary, or their injuries could be fatal.

5. Anesthesia Errors

Some of the most common types of medical errors have to do with anesthesia
mistakes. Anesthesia is used to keep patients asleep during an operation,
but if it is administered incorrectly, it could cause any number of problems.
If a patient is allergic to the medication, he or she could suffer a serious
reaction, which could be worsened if the anesthesiologist fails to respond
quickly by discontinuing the anesthesia. Also, if the patient receives
too little, they could wake up during surgery, or they could feel the
surgery even though they appear asleep. Too much anesthesia, on the other
hand, could cause serious brain damage or could be fatal.

If you or someone you love was harmed in a hospital due to the negligence
or errors of others, make sure you take immediate action to fight for
justice and compensation. Our experienced medical malpractice attorneys
can work with you to determine who is liable for your accident. We know
how traumatizing hospital errors can be, which is why we want to support
you as you recover and take action against the guilty party.

The information on this website is for general information purposes only.
Nothing on this site should be taken as legal advice for any individual
case or situation. This information is not intended to create, and receipt
or viewing does not constitute, an attorney-client relationship.